Ron Paul: Fed-Led Quantitative Easing Sparked Cryptocurrency Surge

Former Congressman Ron Paul said today that he believes the U.S. government's monetary policies have fueled the rise in the price of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

"I think cryptocurrency is a reflection of the disaster of the monetary dollar system," he told CNBC in an interview today. Specifically, Paul cited an excessive amount of credit created through the process of quantitative easing – by which central banks buy government debt and other financial assets in an effort to expand lending and boost the market – as at least partially responsible for the rise in cryptocurrencies.

He went on to say:

"I think if you had not had the QEs, and the massive amount of inflation, and places looking for the easing dollars to go, you might still have the cryptocurrencies. But I don't think you would have this exponential bubble that is going on."

The former U.S. Representative's comments are perhaps unsurprising, given that Paul – who has also waged unsuccessful bids for the presidency – has come out largely in favor of cryptocurrencies in the past.

In October, Paul said that while he doesn't consider bitcoin to be a form of real money, he nonetheless believes the U.S. government should limit how it regulates activities involving the tech.

"If people want to use it, the government should stay out of it," Paul told TheStreet at the time.

And earlier this month, the former congressman started an online poll on Twitter asking whether people – if given the option of taking a gift worth $10,000 they had to hold on to for a period of time – would take bitcoin, gold or dollars. Over half of the respondents showed support for bitcoin.

Ron Paul image via Shutterstock